how. and where there are so many euphemisms used about horsing around it was hard to grasp what happened in the locker room. what needs to be established by penn state and what is being done to penn state is to say rape is not simply another cost factor in maintaining a big-time football program. hiding hell is not tolerable in a win/loss record. it's not about keeping the state upbeat. it's about being truly and genuinely proud of what you're doing with football. it's about having a tradition of excellence. that is as good as it looks in the next day's sports page. penn state can't reach that goal by exonerating what happened in happy valley when something like this shouldn't happen anywhere. penn state is a great school. it's a truly great university today and will be tomorrow if it will face up to what happened, takes the penalty, gets back in the huddle, and makes the best of a bad situation. anyone who counsels otherwise, the governor included, is not a friend of penn state. that's "hardball" for now. thanks for being with us. "the ed show" with ed schultz

starts right now. good evening, americans, and welcome to "the ed show" from new york. the battle over sensible gun laws has finally reached a tipping point. this is "the ed show." let's get to work. >> 20 heartbroken families lost a child in the sandy hook school shooting. i know how much it hurts. my 9-year-old daughter was murdered in the tucson shooting. >> two years after the tragedy in tucson, gabrielle giffords is taking the nra head-on. and a powerful new ad calls for courage in congress. >> whose child has to die next? >> senator barbara boxer is here on the progress. sheriff joe arpaio has a posse patrolling around arizona schools. tonight we'll try to find the truth about arming public school teachers. congressman steve palazzo wanted aid when his district was ravaged by hurricane katrina, yet voted down sandy aid.

he took a hypocritical tour of sandy damage today. congress has hit a new low. >> say ah! >> ah. >> say ah! >> ah. >> even root canals are more popular. bob shrum and howard fineman are here to assess the damages. on the heels of the horrific massacre in newtown, connecticut, something needs to change. here is one reason why. two years ago today, a gunman opened fire in tucson, arizona, in a parking lot. he shot 19 people, including congresswoman gabrielle giffords with a gun that carries 33 rounds and a magazine of ammunition. six people died, including one child. the mother of that child now has a strong message for our elected leaders in washington. >> 20 heartbroken families lost

a child in the sandy hook school shooting. i know how much it hurts. my 9-year-old daughter was murdered in the tucson shooting. i have one question for our political leaders. when will you find the courage to stand up to the gun lobby? whose child has to die next? to every mother, we cannot wait. we have to demand a plan. go to demandaplan.org and add your name. >> the ad is part of a campaign of the group mayors against illegal guns. demand a plan has a three-step solution to reduce gun violence in america. they want a criminal background check for every gun sold in the country. a ban on assault weapons and high capacity ammunition magazines. and they want to make gun trafficking a federal crime, all common sense stuff. groups like demand a plan want to keep the focus on this issue as vice president joe biden and his task force hold meetings this week to create a path forward. tomorrow, wednesday, the vice president will meet with the victims groups and gun safety efforts.

on thursday he is going to meet with sportsmen and gun ownership groups across america. on friday, the president invited the national rifle association to sit at the table for discussion. the nra said nothing about the meeting other than this brief statement. "we got an invite late friday. we are sending a representative to hear what they have to say." retired army general stanley mcchrystal is the latest voice for common sense change in america on gun laws. the general spoke on msnbc this morning about the types of assault weapons used in these mass shootings. >> when it hits the human body, the effects are devastating. it's designed to do that. and that's what our soldiers ought to carry. i personally don't think there is any need for that kind of weaponry on the streets, and particularly around the schools in america. i believe that we've got to take a serious look. i understand everybody's desire to have whatever they want. but we've got to protect our children. we've got to protect our police. we've got to protect our population.

>> compare mcchrystal's comments from those from the other side. >> 1776 will commence again if you try to take our firearms. it doesn't matter how many lems you get out there on the street, begging for them to have their guns taken. we will not relinquish them. do you understand? >> the lines are being drawn. members of the right wing fringe are using fear and fantasy to end the debate over gun legislation. a caller to my radio show this afternoon sounded more sensible. this gentleman is a gunowner and hunter from kansas, the middle of the country. >> i am appalled. as a gunowner and an ethical sportsman, i am appalled by the level of gun violence in this country. gunowners ought to be leading the charge to end this gun violence. if you love guns, and if you love your hunting heritage, my god, how does your stomach not turn at the violence that's committed out there with things that you claim to love? >> matt from kansas is not the only gunowner who feels this way. >> you have a gun. >> yes, a glock.

>> you still have a glock? >> gabby and i are gun owners. we're strong supporters. >> it's the common sense consensus you're going for? >> we are. and i think most gunowners are in the same camp with us. >> gabrielle giffords and her husband mark kelly used the second anniversary of her shooting to push back against the gun lobby. in a joint op said ed for "usa today," they wrote americans for responsible solutions, which we are launching today, will invite people from around the country to join a national conversation about gun violence prevention. we'll raise the funds necessary to balance the influence of the gun lobby, and we'll line up squarely behind leaders who will stand up for what's right. the children of sandy hook elementary school and all victims of gun violence deserve fellow citizens and leaders who have the will to prevent gun violence in the future.

giffords and kelly made their announcement after visiting with families in newtown, connecticut. kelly says they are committed to a common sense approach to gun laws. >> i bought a gun at walmart recently, and i went through a background check. and why can't we just make it more difficult for criminals and the mentally ill to get guns? >> but the nra would say to you they can get them illegally. >> i don't agree with that. the gun lobby even opposes a gun purchaser being checked against the terrorist watch list. i mean, doesn't that seem like a common sense thing to do? >> background checks are common sense to the american people. 94% of the public believes all gun buyers should have a background check. the gun lobby, they have fought against this. more than 60% of the public want a ban on semiautomatic weapons, like the one used in newtown and also aurora, colorado. it's not going to be easy to

push back. the gun lobby is in the full campaign mode. a coalition of gun groups will hold a gun appreciation day on january 19th, two days before the presidential inauguration. but gabby giffords and mark kelly are the voices of authority in this entire climate. giffords is the strongest possible advocate at this time for a moment to get common sense laws on the books. >> when it can happen to children in a classroom, it's time to say -- >> enough. >> giffords is right. enough is enough. if it's not enough now, will it never be enough? the bottom line here, folks, is that we are at a crossroads in this country in this conversation. if we don't do it now, when are we going to do it? when do the people's opinion matter to the lawmakers in congress? how many more children do we have to see die? and how many more bogus promotional sound bites do we have to have from the national rifle association that don't tell the truth about gun violence in this country? it's not just laws, it is a societal problem.

but we have to take the step forward and do something right. i'm a sportsman. i've hunted for over 35 years. do i look like a guy who wants to see my firearms and my freedoms being taken away? no, of course not. but there are sensible laws. you know, we're right now operating on a document that is archaic in many ways. the constitution in the second amendment, the right to bear arms, they didn't have machine guns back then, and they didn't have high capacity clips back then. they had muskets. and the constitution has latitude for us to move on this, because society has changed, attitudes have changed, technology and manufacturing has changed. and the death on our streets in this country have changed. and we need to do something about it. but just like the couple you just saw, the congresswoman and her husband, it takes courage that they are showing america tonight. they need to get involved, and they are. they are leading. and it is about leadership. get your cell phones out.

tonight's question, should responsible leaders speak up about gun legislation? text a for yes and b for no. you can go to our blog at ed.msnbc.com. we'll bring you the results later on in the show. joining me tonight from california is senator barbara boxer. senator, great to have you with us tonight. >> great to be with you. >> you bet. you have been on the front lines for many years about gun violence in this country. and it has got to be more than conversation at this point. what has motivated you over the years to be so passionate about doing something about the societal problem we have? >> well, ed, for me it started in 1993. i was a new senator when a gunman with an assault-style weapon walked into a law office in san francisco, 101 california street, and the result was mayhem. and one of those lost in that

shooting was one of my son's best friends, a law school compatriot of his. and this young man threw himself over his wife, who was there visiting him at the law office and saved her. i can't get over that. my family can't get over that. but it's not about me, and it's not about them, because since then, since 1993, there have been 47 mass shootings, and so many more added to the list of deaths, unneeded deaths and injuries. and, you know, i think there are moments in our history that are pivotal moments, and we change. and we all come out and say, you know, regardless of our opinion and a lot of other things, we need to have some common sense here. i think there was something about the slaughter of those babies that brought us together. and i am so grateful to gabby and mark, because they have so much credibility as gunowners

themselves, gabby as a victim, knowing what happened to her. i think it's one of those moments. do you know, ed, more people are killed on the streets of america in two years than in the ten years of the vietnam war? and i was around when everyone said no to the vietnam war, no to the iraq war. this is another kind of a war. and we have more control over it if we have the courage. >> can we win this war? is the conversation and the mood at a tipping point in this country, in your opinion? >> i only can hope so. i can't get into the mind of that gentleman who started pointing his finger at piers morgan and going off on some rant that the government is coming to get us all. government is not coming to get us all. we get to that point, nothing is going to help us if the military

turns against the people. let's get real here. we're talking innocent lives lost. it seems to me we should do three things right now. get the weapons of war off our streets. keep guns out of the hands of the mentally ill and children, and also make sure that our schools are safe by allowing the local governments to avail themselves of some grant programs so they can bring secure schools, make them a reality in their neighborhoods. >> senator boxer, with the assault weapons ban of 1994, would that pass the senate today? >> i can't tell you. i haven't taken the pulse of my colleagues. but i can tell you this. i believe we will be able to get some things done. maybe it's going to be the high capacity clips. maybe it's going to be senator feinstein's bill. i certainly hope so. we need to close the gun show loophole. there are certain things the obama administration could do on

the mental health front and on enforcing existing laws when it comes to tracking guns through the computer system that was set up. we have to come together. i think it is one of those enough is enough moments. it's one of those pivotal moments. i believe it is happening. but i do want to say to the viewers, it's really up to you, because it's going to take courage for certain colleagues to step up to the plate. and we have to make sure people know that if they do the right thing, it will be noticed, and it will be rewarded by support. >> senator boxer, thank you for your leadership on this. i appreciate your time. >> thanks. >> on "the ed show." thank you so much. share your thoughts with us on twitter and facebook. we always want to know what you think. coming up, gun clubs claim they're training hundreds of teachers to carry guns in schools. but are they telling the truth? we've got the facts about firearms and safety of students, next.

coming up, hypocrisy in the house of representatives. we'll look at the republicans who voted against hurricane sandy relief, but lobbied for disaster funds for their own states and backyards. and later, the federal government loaned billions of dollars to insurance giant aig to save them from bankruptcy and hurting the economy. now some investors want to sue the federal government and want aig to join in. we'll have the details coming up. don't forget, you can listen to my radio show on sirius xm radio monday through friday noon to 3:00 p.m. share your thoughts with us on facebook and twitter using the hash tag ed show. we're coming right back.

we have stood with the citizens of florida and alabama, mississippi and louisiana, iowa and vermont, california and missouri in their times of need. now i trust they will stand with us. >> how do you argue with that? governor of new jersey chris christie giving his state of the state address earlier. and next week congress is set to vote on more disaster relief for victims of hurricane sandy. just last friday, congress approved a $9.7 billion measure that would provide some relief

by keeping, just keeping the national flood insurance program solvent. that's what that vote was about. 67 members opposed the measure. they were all republican. over half of those no votes supported, yes, supported disaster relief in their own states. think progress compiled the list. among the bold faced names, here he is, paul ryan of wisconsin. you know, he voted no on sandy relief, yet asked for a disaster declaration following a flood in his home state of wisconsin? marsha blackburn of tennessee, she too voted no, asked for disaster assistance following a flood in tennessee. louie gohmert. you can always depend on a no vote there. he requested a broader disaster declaration following hurricane ike. jim jordan of ohio, a no vote, requested a disaster declaration after storms in his state. can you believe this? tom price of georgia a no? he voted no for sandy relief? he called for disaster relief after tornadoes. jim sensenbrenner. joe wilson of north carolina also a no vote, supported usda drought relief to help those farmers out. then there is steve palazzo of

mississippi. palazzo represents the coastal region of his state, an area completely devastated by hurricane katrina. palazzo voted no on sandy relief because he says he is worried about the nation's debt. the bigger picture he says is we also have to recognize that we have a financial disaster that is looming in this country that i believe personally in my heart -- in his heart -- is going to be greater than any disaster that has ever hit the u.s. well, when katrina struck back in 2005, this congressional member wasn't serving in congress at the time. he was in charge of finances at biloxi's public housing authority. palazzo asked for millions of dollars in federal relief, despite the country's debt at the time, because he knew the people of mississippi needed it. he said "we will rebuild and we'll provide homes for those

displaced, but we cannot do that until it is funded," palazzo said at the time. "the miami herald" reports that harrison county, which includes biloxi got $72 million in federal funding just for public housing after hurricane katrina. this gentleman's hypocrisy on disaster relief has not gone unnoticed back home. you see, the folks of palazzo's district aren't too happy about his no vote. his hometown newspaper, "the sun herald" of biloxi went even further. we doubt any congressional district in this nation has ever had as much federal distance following a disaster as mississippi. how is it possible to speak of pinching pennies when he knows the immeasurable value of money flowing quickly into a disaster area? palazzo tried to explain his vote a different way. >> it is not that i don't support the sandy relief effort. i just believe we should have

offsets. >> offsets. wait a minute. there was no talk of offsets when this congressman appealed for relief money following hurricane isaac last august. and there was no talk of offsets when palazzo took to the house floor last may, asking his fellow members to support an extension of the national flood insurance program. >> nfip provides flood insurance to more than 20,000 communities across this nation, including more than 50,000 families in my district. many of my constituents in mississippi are still dealing with the effects of hurricane katrina. they have experienced record flooding in recent years, and we are fast approaching another hurricane season. we have no other choice. we must act now. so it is out of necessity that i support this short-term extension. >> you know, that guy was right. the national flood insurance program is an important program that should transcend politics.

it helps families and small business owners get become on their feet after a disaster by paying flood insurance claims. last week's sandy relief vote was to fund the national flood insurance program. and yet this congressman and 66 other republicans, what did they do? they voted no. palazzo is now on heavy-duty damage control, reportedly touring sandy affected areas today to show his support. but the people of new york and new jersey don't need a photo op. they need his vote so they can get the money and the resources they need to rebuild, just like they did back in his state. former new york senator al d'amato had this to say. "they're a bunch of jackasses. every one of the 67 who voted no are nothing more than pawns of a philosophy that is not backed up by facts." sir, you need to run again. coming up, in a new poll, congress is getting lower

ratings than cockroaches and head lice, and the next fiscal deadline is just around the corner. bob shrum and howard fineman join me for the discussion. stay with us. [ female announcer ] going to sleep may be easy, but when you wake up in the middle of the night it can be frustrating. it's hard to turn off and go back to sleep. intermezzo is the first and only prescription sleep aid approved for use as needed in the middle of the night when you can't get back to sleep. it's an effective sleep medicine you don't take before bedtime.

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welcome back to "the ed show." thanks for stay with us tonight. gun clubs in utah, ohio, and texas have gotten a lot of new business since the massacre at

sandy hook elementary school. they claim they're training hundreds of teachers to carry guns at school. now, we know that gun clubs are training people for free, but none of them can tell us just how many trainees are teachers. in fact, my staff spent the entire day trying to find one teacher in any of these states who would talk to us about this. hundreds of teachers are supposedly getting gun training, but we couldn't find a single teacher who would talk about it, not one. it's a little strange, isn't it? here is something we do know. more school districts are buying into the nra's so-called solution. armed offduty police officers are patrolling the middle school and elementary schools in marlboro, and last night staten island passed a resolution to post armed guards at schools there as well. >> i've heard some of the comments tonight. people say we're putting guns in the schools. we're putting trained professionals in the schools. >> administrators say there will be no armed guards in any new york city public schools.

but districts in other parts of new york disagree. police have stepped up security in westchester county. and in arizona, sheriff joe arpaio has put together armed volunteer posses to patrol around schools. >> we're not waiting for new laws or the bureaucracy. we're taking immediate action. >> here is what the nra won't tell you. out of the 62 mass shootings in the last 30 years, not one single killer was stopped by a civilian using a gun. not one. the risk of keeping guns around children are very real. 32,163 people were killed by firearms in 2011. 851 were killed by accident. here is something else the nra won't tell you. if americans keep buying firearms at the current pace in

which they are, we will have more guns than people. guns will outnumber american citizens in just two years. as the number of guns has gone up, mass shootings have also gone up. it's not a coincidence. we hit an all-time low in 1994 when the assault weapons ban was passed. isn't it time to get real? we have to decide whether arming teachers and posting guards in every school will really protect our kids and our society. i'm joined tonight by randi weingarten, president of the american teachers federation. it's good to have you with us tonight. >> it's great to be with you, ed. >> this is absolutely absurd, but we're trying to verify how many of these teachers, especially in ohio, are taking this training. and the gun clubs are being very coy about just how many teachers are involved. can you tell us anything about this? do you know of teachers in that state? we heard a number of up to 900 are getting firearms training that would be proficient enough for them to carry guns in schools if the school dribs would allow them.

>> well, look, number one, you know, you know and you've heard it like i have that people are scared. but if the advocacy that i'm hearing from my members all across the country is any indication, teachers do not want to be armed in schools. there is an issue about whether or not we should have an uptick in police presence in and around schools, and we have had. frankly, in our schools around the country about a third of our schools have some police presence for a variety of different reasons. but the issue here, and you got to the -- you got to the heart of it, ed. the issue is this is not -- it is a real mistake to think like the nra thinks that all you need is a good guy or a good gal with a gun to deal with a bad guy with a gun. the assault weapon that lanza used in newtown, you could shoot six bullets a second with that

assault weapon. i don't care what one tries to do in terms of civilians whose job it is to teach kids. you cannot possibly think that putting an army -- putting a gun in that person's hands is going to stop a bad guy with a gun. we saw that in columbine. >> yeah. >> why don't we actually try first to get these large magazines off the streets? why don't we actually try first to get these artillery weaponry off the streets? why don't we try first to close the gun show loophole, or to try to do gun safety laws like other countries have done? why don't we try to do those things first so instead of doing this -- >> i agree with all of, that randi, but what we're going to see right now is conversation in district after district across the country, this conversation should our teachers be armed in the classroom. your union and other unions in the national education

association, where do you stand on this, and how do you push become against this kind of conversation? >> so we do not believe that teachers should be armed in the classrooms. and, you know, this is the irony, ed. just last year, we're having a conversation about whether teachers should actually have latitude to teach as opposed to test, whether they should have collective bargaining rights. so some of the very same people who have stripped teachers of their collective bargaining rights or any latitude to teach now want to arm them. teachers do not want to be armed. we do not want schools to be armed fortresses. we want them to be safe sanctuaries. >> you would be in favor of a greater police presence? >> in places. you know, this should be done on a school by school or case-by-case basis. for example, you can imagine

that why people in newtown would want a police presence in and around schools, because right now they're scared, and they want to have that police presence. it's the schools in newtown, for example are, in remote areas. it takes the cops about ten or 15 minutes to get there. but a place like -- but there are other places where you can imagine that you don't need a police presence in and around the perimeter. and the other thing we should be doing is if we have police presence, as we have had in the past during the clinton administration, let's make sure the police are actually really engaged in schooling, like we did with the d.a.r.e. program. >> all right. randi weingarten. we appreciate your time tonight. this story is not going away. root canals and koch roaches still more popular than congress. bob shrum and howard fineman are here on congress's abysmal approval ratings. florida's rick scott is cooking the books to deny care

to the poor. hear why this is nothing new for the governor. aig thanks you for bailout. >> thank you, america. >> thank you, america. >> thank you, america. >> right before a trip to court. william cohan takes us inside the insurance giant's proposal to sue the government.

welcome back to "the ed show." another big fiscal deadline is looming, and the american people are rendering judgment on whether president obama or house speaker john boehner did a better job with the last one. president obama clearly has the upper hand. 53% approved the president's handling of the fiscal cliff negotiations. only 40% disapproved. for boehner, it's the reverse. only 30% approve. 56% of voters disapprove. meanwhile, congress is getting poll numbers that really nobody would want. americans have a higher opinion of root canals than of congress.

the public also has a higher opinion of used car salesmen, head lice, cockroaches, traffic jams, and donald trump. however, congress did score a little better than telemarketers, communism and gonorrhea. it's kind of funny, but unfortunately speaker boehner pulls the strings of government. and today we learned that the united states government may reach the debt ceiling earlier than expected, possibly as soon as february 15th. speaker boehner even floated the idea of having monthly debt ceiling increases in a recent "wall street journal" article. as think progress points out, maybe he got the idea from grover norquist. >> they can give him debt ceiling increases once a month. they can have him on a short leash, on a small here is your allowance, come back next month if you have behaved. >> wait, you're proposing that the debt ceiling be increased monthly month? >> monthly if he is good. weekly if he is not. >> if he is a good guy.

let's bring in bob shrum, professor of public policy at nyu and contributor for daily beast. howard fineman with us tonight, nbc news political analyst and editorial director of the "huffington post" media group. gentlemen, great to have you with us. we want to talk to you on a number of different subjects with both of you tonight. but first, let's start with the debt ceiling. howard, don't republicans know this is a big potential loser not only for the country, but for republicans politically, or am i viewing this wrong? >> excuse me, ed. i think some republicans know it in their head. i think most republicans in the house don't know it in their hearts. they're here to lecture and to disrupt and not to legislate. they don't understand often, the ones i talked to don't really get the idea that the american public views the congress as an utterly dysfunctional institution that is standing in the way of leading the country and bringing about a true recovery from this long great

recession. and most of the american people don't see political and legislative maneuvers like the ones that the tea party types want to carry forth like grover norquist want to carry forth as the kind of political disasters that they are. if the republicans pursue the strategy that grover norquist is talking about and that john boehner floated, they'll just drive the republican numbers even further through the floor than what you just showed now. >> bob shrum, it's the big three, medicare, medicaid and social security. the republicans want a piece of that. how big a piece do they need to come to peace with the president on this? >> well, i don't think they're going to get a big piece of that to get the debt limit extended. look, boehner right now reminds me of a zombie speaker of the house. i mean, he is presiding over the mad hatter's tea party in "alice in wonderland" there are actually republicans, and howard is right, who are sitting there saying let's crash the full faith and credit of the united states. after all, one of them said, we got to do it at some point. we have to do it.

let's go through the pain now. that is a political disaster for the gop. you know, normally, if you look at 2014, you'd say republicans are going to gain house seats. republicans might take the senate. if they go down this road, and i think mitch mcconnell knows this, the senate republican leader, and i think boehner knows it too. if they go down this road, they risk breaking that precedent and really suffering in the midterm elections. >> let's talk about gun safety. this is going to be -- it seems to be a pretty heavy lift for the congress here, even in the wake of a horrific tragedy. howard fineman, where does this stand right now? there is a lot of rancor going back and forth, people choosing up sides, advocacy groups getting engaged. joe biden lead the way to get something done on this? >> well, i think now is an opportunity that hasn't existed in quite some time. and, in fact, just getting the policy back to where it was in the clinton years would be an achievement. but i think the democrats may be pushing, the president may be

pushing on more of an open door than they realize. this may be a chance for political bravery here. bob mentioned the 2014 elections. i know that some democratic strategists who are looking at picking up seats in red states would say be cautious, be careful. let's not antagonize the gun law, be in those conservative states. but i think that would be to misread the public mood. i have a feeling that the president with joe biden's help and leadership may go a little stronger on this than we were predicting. and i think that would further divide the republican party. i think it would put incredible pressure on the republican party if they the democrats and the president were to do it. >> bob, is this a turning point? >> it could be a turning point. and i think howard is absolutely right. you know, the president can be very reasonable on this in terms over the assault weapons bans, the multiple round clips of ammunition, the fact that you have these gun shows where people who are delusional or criminals can go get guns. you can do that, and you can also put it together with a

component of education. and you can try and deal with the mental health aspects of this. i think if the president puts forward that kind of program, there is a chance, a chance that it gets through. it's going to be very difficult because once again you have that republican house. and don't forget one thing about the house. the republicans lost the popular vote by over a million votes for the house of representatives. they have 53 or 54% of the seats because the districts are gerrymandered. those republicans aren't worried about losing in a general election to a democrat. they're worried about losing in a primary. so they're going to resist. but howard's right. you can break the republican party on this. there are lots of folks in places, the ones who are still there in the northeast and suburban districts, for example, around chicago, who are going to feel a lot of pressure to move on this, even if they are republicans. >> bob shrum, howard fineman, great to have you with us tonight. thanks a lot for joining us on "the ed show." coming up, florida governor rick scott continues to use faulty statistics, even after analysis telling him he is wrong. analysts i should say telling him he is wrong. just how wrong? well, 2,500% wrong. it's a heck of a number, isn't it? stay tuned. we're right back.

aig got billions of dollars from the federal government to save them from bankruptcy. now shareholders are saying they didn't get a fair deal? details ahead. stay with us.

and we are back. florida governor rick scott is dead set on preventing his state from participating in an expansion of benefits under the affordable care act. and he is willing to cook the books to get his way. to justify denying almost one million uninsured low income residents health care insurance coverage, scott is using republicans' favorite kind of math, the kind of math that just does not add up. scott says medicaid expansion would cost florida just too much, at least $26 billion over the next ten years. but a series of e-mails obtained by health news florida reveal on december 20th the state's chief economist warned the governor's staff his cost estimates were wrong. but scott keeps using them anyway.

here is the governor on monday. >> actually, no. the florida's agency for health care administration put out their estimate of what the expansion would cost just for florida taxpayers. and it's over $26 billion. >> well, let's break this down. the study scott is citing inflates the cost of expansion by 2,500%. would you like to get that return? we're not talking about small change here, folks. the number is so big because the agency didn't take into account the increase in federal funds. the federal government will pay the bulk of the cost for new medicaid eligibles if the state agrees to expand its program 100% between the years 2014 and 2016, then down to 90% by 2020. so in reality, those one million uninsured floridians would get coverage at a ten-year cost of about $1 billion to the state. but what do you expect? this is the same rick scott who ran a company at the time it was involved in the largest medicare

fraud case in u.s. history, and he walked away with a $10 million severance package. pretty good deal, huh? the same rick scott who is pushing a medicaid privatization plan which would benefit his own health care company. tonight in our survey, i asked, should responsible gunowners speak up about gun legislation? 99% of you say yes. 1% of you say no. insurance giant aig is thinking about suing the federal government after the taxpayers build a them out. remember that story? pretty disturbing story of corporate greed. bloomberg view columnist william cohan is here with reaction. we'll break it down. stay with us.

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and in the big finish tonight, we have a truly shocking story of corporate greed. let's go back to late 2008. the insurance giant aig was on the verge of financial collapse because of its role in the financial crisis. if they went down, the ripple effect would have had devastating consequences on the economy. so the federal government stepped in and offered aig a $182 billion loan, bailout. they accepted the offer. now four years later, aig is considering joining a lawsuit to sue the federal government because they didn't like the terms they agreed to?

the $25 billion lawsuit claims the federal government has deprived shareholders of tens of billions of dollars and violated the fifth amendment. it says the government took too large a share in aig and charged excessive interest rates. basically, they think they paid the federal government too much money, and now they want it back. the man who filed the lawsuit is former aig ceo hank greenberg, who resigned in 2005 during a scandal. he is still a major shareholder in aig. he started the lawsuit with his own group of investors and is now pursuing aig to join in. aig is meeting with greenberg tomorrow to decide if they will join in on the suit. it would be ridiculous for them to join in considering that they are doing just fine. because since 2008, the government loan, aig has posted a profit of over $26 billion. and on top of the money, aig has been touting its great relationship with the government. with this advertising blitz,

they're actually thanking the american people for saving them. >> aig, we said we were going to turn it around, and we did. >> leading insurance company based right here in america. >> we have repaid every dollar america lent to us. >> everything, plus a profit of more than 22 billion. >> for the mesh people. >> thank you, america. >> aig played a major role in taking our country into the great recession. the taxpayers saved aig. the ripple effect would have been unbelievable. and now for aig to think about suing the federal government is beyond disgraceful. for more, let's turn to my friend bill cohan. he is the columnist for "bloomberg view" and author of "money and power." okay. let's play a word game. you match what i say, appalling, outrageous. >> the year is only eight days old, but this is the largest corporate pr blunder of the year so far, without question. for aig to take all of this money when it was on the verge of bankruptcy, a board was in

place and did it willingly, knowing exactly what they were doing, knowing that their choice was to have bankruptcy or take the loan, they took the loan. they paid it back. they paid it back with $22 billion of profit. and for now to them, to seriously consider joining this lawsuit is absolutely, to use your word, outrageous. >> well, the federal government went in. the lawmakers went in and said you got the take this deal, because if you go down, the ripple effect in the economy, we may not be able to recover. i mean, that was the conversation. >> absolutely. >> isn't this unamerican? >> well, it's some corporate lawyer's dream fantasy along with hank greenberg's fantasy that perhaps he'll make money out of this. but it really has no basis in law or fact. >> why is greenberg doing this? just a grudge? >> well, he lost a tremendous amount of money when aig got diluted down by the government's ownership, okay. he still got hundreds of

millions of dollars in his pocket. but he lost probably several billion and he is pissed out about it if i may use that word there is no basis of this board considering even for a second joining this lawsuit. >> senator liz warren of massachusetts today said aig continues to profit from a stealth bailout in the form of tax loopholes. what is your reaction to that? >> i think elizabeth warren is absolutely right about that. i mean, aig has benefitted from income tax repayments that it's been able to get from the government as a result of the bailout, avoiding future taxes. again, the choice for shareholders when they made this loan, when they accepted this loan, was either bankruptcy and getting wiped out, or live to fight another day. and that's exactly what they have done. >> so greenberg will go to this board meeting tomorrow and ask the board members to get on board with this lawsuit. the question is who is going to have the courage to throw him out of the room? >> if i were a board member there, ed, i